Updates to Standards Ballot and Voting Systems

SEMI Deploys Updates to Standards Ballot and Voting Systems

Earlier this year, SEMI launched its new Standards ballot/voting and
membership management systems in time for the Cycle 1 voting period. These
new systems were developed to provide SEMI Standards Program Members more
functionality and increased capability while accessing and utilizing these SEMI
Standards services.

Since its launch, SEMI has been working on additional
refinements to these systems while also taking into consideration feedback that
it has received from its members. These improvements are planned for deployment
in time for the Cycle 3
voting period.

Key updates:

View Ballots

Drop-down menus for active ballot cycles and
available ballots

Voting Home Page

Voting sheets organized by cycle

View Ballot link opens in new window

Voting on Ballots

“One-click” to submit votes

View Ballots

Previously, when two active ballot cycles are available for
voting, the list of Technical Committees issuing these ballots for both cycles
was all contained in a single drop-down menu. Users often had to scroll further
down the list to select committees that issued ballots for the later cycle. Consequently,
these ballots were often overlooked.

Beginning with the Cycle 3 voting period, there will be two
drop-down menus: one to select the voting period, the other for committees
issuing ballots for the selected period (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Selecting
Ballot Period and Issuing Committee

Voting Home Page

The voting home page also receives a number of updates for
improved readability and process flow.
Voting sheets, including those that were previously submitted, will be
grouped by cycle (see Figure 2)

Figure 2

Voting Sheets
Grouped by Cycle

As votes are submitted, members may want to view additional
ballots issued by other committees without navigating away from the voting home
page. Beginning with the Cycle 3 voting
period, clicking on the “ballot page” link in the Instructions section will open the ballot home page in a new window
or tab (depending on the web browser setting).

Note: Web browser settings may need to be changed to
allow new pages to be opened in a new window or tab.

Previously, clicking on the “ballot page” link will use the
current browser window to open the ballot home page. Users have expressed
preference with keeping the voting home page open while reviewing other ballots
in a different page (see Figure 3).

Figure 3

Link to Ballot
Home Page

Voting on Ballots

Previously, after the votes for each ballot have been entered,
and the voter clicks on the “Save” button, the system offered the option to
make any last-minute changes to their vote selections. Voters can click “Back”
if they wished to edit further or click on “Submit” to formally submit their
votes. Since voters can make further changes at any time after they had already
submitted their votes (as long as the voting period is still open) by going to Submitted Ballots section, the two-stage
voting process (i.e., Save then Submit) was unnecessary and often
confusing.

Beginning with the Cycle 3 voting period, once votes for
each ballot have been entered, voters simply need to click the “Submit” button once
and their votes are immediately submitted. A confirmation message in bold, blue
font appears at the top of the voting sheet indicating that the votes have been
submitted successfully (see Figure 4).

Figure 4

One-Click Vote
Submission

Another indicator that votes for a particular committee’s
ballots, at a particular voting period, have been submitted is that the voting
sheet entry now appears under the “Submitted Ballots” section of the voting
main page (see Figure 5)

Figure 5

Submitted Ballots

Opportunities for Improvement

While the updates outlined above will be deployed in time
for the Cycle 3 voting period, SEMI will continue making improvements to the
Standards ballot and voting systems for release with future voting cycles.
Please contact a SEMI staff
nearest you if you wish to provide any additional feedback.